Why should you have to jump through mental hoops to work around poor writing or creating?

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I've been a Star Trek fan for a really long time, nearly forty years and I've been jumping through mental hoops ever since the "James R. Kirk" tombstone.

For me the least creative thing you can do, which Trek seems to do best, is be so stringent with the aliens. Why can they only be from one place and all have to have the same exact attributes and cultural philosophies? While I said, and stand by, that the Kelvans would've been a better choice for the "tear in space" storyline nothing they've done in the game really contradicts what little bit we've seen of the Gorn.

One of the signs of great fantasy or fiction, especially in a uniquely created setting, lets use Middle Earth, is that their is great continuity and consistency. It allows and enhances immersion and suspension of belief. Isn't great fiction, especially fantasy/sci-fi suppose to get you to suspend reality so for the reading or movie you can fully immerse yourself in the experience? When a creator ventures into an already established world and deals with an established element, is it to much to ask for consistency so the buy in is easy?

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What about the enjoyment from seeing different interpretations of a fictional universe? Is Man of Steel going to be lesser because it ignores the old Superman movies, or the Smallville TV series? What about Sherlock, Elementry and the recent Sherlock Holmes movies? They're all "what if" versions of the originals and all in their own continuities. Yes, the movie writers claimed Star Trek is a branching timeline beginning in 2233 and the game writers just decided to treat it as a full-on reboot and it's kind of sucky that they can't seem to really make their minds up either way, but IMO even when it fails as another timeline in the Trek multiverse (which is still how I prefer to see it), it still works as a fun standalone reboot of The Original Series.

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TV Smallville was from the get go an alternate reality and Warner Brothers/DC never attempted to say it existed in the same reality as the comic or previous movie franchises.

In fact the writers and producers went out of their way to say it was an open slate. The same with the new Man of Steel.

JJ Abrams and Robert Orci went to great lengths to tie the Star Trek movie to the "prime" timeline. Hell they brought Leonard Nimoy back to portray the older Spock just to reinforce it's the same Spock and that he is one of the catalyst for a new timeline with a plot that established the point of divergence of this timeline from TOS was the day of Kirk's birth.

If they wanted a clean slate, they should have done just that and said we are not binding ourself to original canon. In order to keep it relevant for older fans they elected to take the path that all canon between the same is exact to the day of Kirk's birth. I think it was a good decision and using Nimoy endeared itself to old fans while attempting to reach new ones.

If they game producers age going to attest that this is part of the new Movieverse, they ought to have done some homework or just made these aliens some new never seen before race to the Trek World.

TV Smallville was from the get go an alternate reality and Warner Brothers/DC never attempted to say it existed in the same reality as the comic or previous movie franchises.

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That's because we have an incredible amount of alternate-Superman universes already. Abrams was trying to satisfy a fan-base that was use to one seemingly seamless continuity, even though it was always all over the place.

TV Smallville was from the get go an alternate reality and Warner Brothers/DC never attempted to say it existed in the same reality as the comic or previous movie franchises.

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That's because we have an incredible amount of alternate-Superman universes already. Abrams was trying to satisfy a fan-base that was use to one seemingly seamless continuity, even though it was always all over the place.

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Hey that was the decision that was made. I for like it but even if I didn't, the people that play in out to acknowledge that there was no divergence until Kirk's birth. Nothing that would effect TOS Gorn that I can see and certainly nothing to rewrite everything about them.

Is knowing what is established and having some consistency to much to ask for a 60 dollar game that had dated visuals and mechanics?

This conversation reminds of the "Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet" folks who got up in arms about having T'Pol in Enterprise. Even though there was absolutely no evidence to support the position.

Is knowing what is established and having some consistency to much to ask for a 60 dollar game that had dated visuals and mechanics?

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Did it affect the 'fun factor' of the game? Is the game a bad game because the Gorn don't fit with some people's assumptions about them? For me the answer to both of those questions is no.

Can you point out anything at all from canon material (TV/movies) that would rule out an extra-galactic origin for the Gorn species?

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It did for me. I expected so see the Gorn that were part of canon because they made a point of saying that this was just as much canon as the movie.

The existing history indicates that they are not expansionist and in all the series, a couple of passing reference none speaking of war with the Federation or attempt conquer the Milky Way. That would indicate the original plot of Arena rang true and they were territorial xenophobes, not galactic conquering expansionist. They weren't hate bent creatures seeking and destroying, merely protecting the space they thought their own.

I shouldn't have to go through a series of hoops to buy in this is the Gorn that has been part of the Trekverse by postulating that well these Gorn are different, physically and culturally so furthermore the ones already seen resembled the "Gorn Champion" species so that to make this game work continuity wise somehow they escaped their own galaxy to the Milky Was so long ago that their existing canon culture has evolved from galactic conquest to xenophobia. Also, their type must have been the only ones to come long ago because now they are the commanders. Big stretch. And somehow the fact Gorn were already known to exist by name if never encountered because the Orions knew about them as Harad-Sar in ENT made reference to them by name to Capt Archer and command crew, all of which happened prior to the Kelvin/Nero incident so would be known. Starfleet, Vulcans, are idiots because somehow magically they forgot this species existed in the Alpha Quadrant so somehow were discovering a new species and culture. Bigger Stretch.

The majority of reviews about the Gorn in game reviews have been negative which is sad because they had to change what was one of the most popular species seen on Trek and make half the people playing this game not like them. Even sadder that most people that loved the Gorn will enjoy the Gorn in the game commercial with Shatner more than the Gorn in this game.

It did for me. I expected so see the Gorn that were part of canon because they made a point of saying that this was just as much canon as the movie.

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So you expected ten or eleven levels of a molasses slow Gorn chasing you around?

The existing history indicates that they are not expansionist and in all the series, a couple of passing reference none speaking of war with the Federation or attempt conquer the Milky Way. That would indicate the original plot of Arena rang true and they were territorial xenophobes, not galactic conquering expansionist. They weren't hate bent creatures seeking and destroying, merely protecting the space they thought their own.

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So every Gorn is exactly the same? Face it, the Gorn had to be redesigned for modern audiences. It was going to happen at some point. Much like the Klingons were re-envisioned.

Starfleet, Vulcans, are idiots because somehow magically they forgot this species existed in the Alpha Quadrant so somehow were discovering a new species and culture. Bigger Stretch.

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Starfleet also forgot about the Borg, the Ferengi, cloaking devices and holes in space. Guess Prime Kirk and Picard are idiots too?

Even sadder that most people that loved the Gorn will enjoy the Gorn in the game commercial with Shatner more than the Gorn in this game.

The existing history indicates that they are not expansionist and in all the series, a couple of passing reference none speaking of war with the Federation or attempt conquer the Milky Way. That would indicate the original plot of Arena rang true and they were territorial xenophobes, not galactic conquering expansionist. They weren't hate bent creatures seeking and destroying, merely protecting the space they thought their own.

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So every Gorn is exactly the same? Face it, the Gorn had to be redesigned for modern audiences. It was going to happen at some point. Much like the Klingons were re-envisioned.

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There's a difference between "redesigning the look" and "rethinking their motivations". I'm fine with the former. The latter requires some mental gymnastics, so I'm not delighted about it - but I understand why they did it.

That said, there's the potential for an interesting tale in the comics of the crew running into the "local" Gorn after their extragalactic misadventure.

There's a difference between "redesigning the look" and "rethinking their motivations". I'm fine with the former. The latter requires some mental gymnastics, so I'm not delighted about it - but I understand why they did it.

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I agree whole-heartedly. Would I have picked the Gorn when making this game? Probably not. But the choice wasn't mine, but I don't think the choices they did make damage the game in any way.

Besides, it isn't like Star Trek and mental gymnastics haven't gotten to know each other over the years.

OK... the wife and I played for a few hours tonight and we had a blast! Ran great on my xbox no issues at all. Really captured the feeling of the movie. Good buy no regrets, I don't know what people are whining about. Unlike halo 4 which after an hour my eyes were killing me and I had to stop playing, not with this game. 10 out of 10.

I for one loved the game, can't wait to see if they make a sequel or go elsewhere after this game.

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You are in the minority. Its got a 43 metacritic score and 2.5 out of 10 user score. Kind of sad when a game base on Trek with as large and loyal of a fan base as is can't even muster a 50 percent user rating.

So you expected ten or eleven levels of a molasses slow Gorn chasing you around?

So every Gorn is exactly the same? Face it, the Gorn had to be redesigned for modern audiences. It was going to happen at some point. Much like the Klingons were re-envisioned.

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I would have expected the game to be a lot less of a shooter and more story driven, so if they come up with a plausible story about the Gorn, running and shooting wouldn't have been the issue.

Were they not a threat to begin with? For cripes sake you have a reptilian humanoid that can pick up a two ton boulder and throw it fifty feet. Or be hit by something weighing 5 tons going 30 miles an hour and shake it off without injury. Look at what it took to take it down in ENT. Localized gravity at 20G's and multple phaser shots.

What re-imagining needed to take place and have them be dangerous?

Lets give them human or better speed and agility and pretend Kirk would have lasted 30 seconds unarmed with the Gorn depicted in this game. The only reason Kirk or Archer survived is because the Gorn while a near unstoppable brick wasn't a very quick one. So the right thing to do to make it more imaginable is take a walking tank and make it fast and Kirk and Archer still would have survived. The Gorn Commander, Sentinels, Lieutenants would be picking their teeth with Kirk in Arena.

Why not have the binary star system the Helios device was utilizing be near Gorn space and have that trigger aggression? That could have easily replaced the the outpost at Cestus III as the trigger for interaction in the new timeline and kept to the established canon.

It would have made for a better story if it wasn't a couple of Star Trek officers running around shooting everything up and actually had more story driven action that required missions that had action but driven at some for of diplomacy or real discovery.

You are in the minority. Its got a 43 metacritic score and 2.5 out of 10 user score. Kind of sad when a game base on Trek with as large and loyal of a fan base as is can't even muster a 50 percent user rating.

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I like The Omega Glory and The Royale, so I'm use to fellow Trek fans not liking what I like. Meta-Critic and their user scores are largely useless to me.